New inflation figures dim hopes of rate cuts

For the first three months of 2024, the consumer price index was 3.6%, slowing from the 4.1% annual pace in the December quarter as released by the ABS this morning. However, this is slightly higher than economists had tipped, indicating CPI would drop to 3.5%.

The March quarterly inflation rate was 1%, compared with the 0.6% pace in the December quarter, which was around 0.2 more than anticipated.